Looking Back: Villeneuve & Armoux battle in 1979 French Grand Prix

Legendary battle between Gilles Villeneuve and Rene Arnoux in 1979 French Grand Prix.

This is what motor racing is all about!

The 1979 French Grand Prix is remembered for Villeneuve’s wheel-banging duel with René Arnoux in the last laps of the race. Arnoux passed Villeneuve for second place with three laps to go, but Villeneuve re-passed him on the next lap. On the final lap Arnoux attempted to pass Villeneuve again, and the pair ran side-by-side through the first few corners of the lap, making contact several times. Arnoux took the position but Villeneuve attempted an outside pass one corner later. The cars bumped hard, Villeneuve slid wide but then passed Arnoux on the inside at a hairpin turn and held him off for the last half of the lap to secure second place. Villeneuve commented afterwards, “I tell you, that was really fun! I thought for sure we were going to get on our heads, you know, because when you start interlocking wheels it’s very easy for one car to climb over another. Source: Wikipedia